Poll: Who Should France’s Backup Goalkeeper Be?

May 13th, 2008 | by: Laurie |

First thing. Before you do anything else, would you do me a favor? Click on this link. (You don’t even have to read it. Just click. And if you have a spare second, click it again.) It’s a Player Profile for Karim Benzema that I wrote for the main Euro page. I made a formatting error that kept it from getting picked up by google when it was first written. My hope is that you’ll help me get enough hits on the page so that it will show up in a google search when people go searching for “Karim Benzema” during Euros. Thank you, thank you!

Okay, moving on to the topic of today’s post. Backup goalkeepers. This is a decision that could have no effect on the tournament or a huge one.

Chances are that Gregory Coupet will play every minute of every game in Euros. But that’s not guaranteed. All it would take would be one dislocated Coupet finger, or one Coupet cleat caught in a net again, and then the backup goalkeeper decision would be vital.

Options here are Landreau from PSG, Frey from Fiorentina, Mandanda from Marseille or Lloris from Nice.

So tell me: Who do you think Raymond Domenech should choose as his backup goalkeeper? And as always, we love to hear your comments.

France World Cup Blog RSS Feed

http://lyon.theoffside.com Inara

I clicked on the link three times, Laurie! Hope that helps

To answer the question, my pick is Landreau. I actually answered this over at the BigSoccer forums, so I’m going to cheat and just copy and paste what I wrote there.

Goalkeeper is the one position on the team where the pecking order is rarely changed because of the confidence issue, especially before a major tournament. Frey may be a better keeper than Landreau, but Landreau has been France’s #3 for a long time now, and only after Barthez stepped down did he become #2 (don’t forget that Landreau played when Coupet was out last year). Considering that Landreau had more of a hand in France’s qualification than Frey (all he did was play in a meaningless game against Ukraine when France had already sealed passage to the finals), it would be totally unfair to take Landreau out now just because he had a bad year.

Over the last 15-20 years, France has had only three starting goalkeepers – Lama, then Barthez, and then Coupet. Lama had to be caught for pot before Barthez could take over, and then Barthez had to step down before Coupet got the nod (even though it was widely acknowledged that Coupet was better than Barthez when the World Cup came around). Coupet didn’t get that #1 spot until he was already 33 years old. And he will continue to be the #1 until he either retires or goes to the MLS (which is like retirement). It’s a tradition in French football, and you can say it’s a silly one, but it’s one that everyone seems to respect.

After the tournament is an entirely different matter, but again, it all depends on Coupet (whether he retires or not). If Coupet doesn’t retire, and assuming Landreau goes back to normal by either moving to another club or doing well with PSG, then I think he will still remain #2 and Frey #3. But if Coupet does retire after this summer, it will merit some more thought, and Frey has a better chance.
http://switzerland.worldcupblog.org Jan

Hey fellow blogger,
I say Lloris all the way. He has really impressed me.
http://lyon.theoffside.com Inara

Jan, Lloris is a great great talent. He’s better than Mandanda IMO and I think he has it in him to be a future star one day. But as long as he plays for Nice, that’s not going to happen. Mandanda gets pushed by the media (rightly so) because he plays for a bigger team.

Unfortunately, during a game with Lyon two weeks ago, Lloris fractured his hand and will be out for several weeks, so he won’t be fit for Euro 2008. Not that it matters – neither he nor Mandanda would have been selected for this summer anyway. But I think by WC 2010, one of them will either be starting or be the #2 (probably the latter if Frey becomes #1 in that timeframe).
frenchnetherlandsfan

don’t u think after EC the hierarchy will depend to the next coach ?
cause after france not succeed to qualify for quarter final, i don’t think domenech ‘ll be french coach anymore (1-0 romania, 0-2 netherlands, 1-1 italy , france third and away from tournament)
just to say, if domenech stays, it’ll probably be frey after coupet’s retired, but otherwise I think everyone is ok the admit lloris is the best keeper, so i could have his chance after EC.
and please put landreau far away from a soccer ball, he did this year the worst season i’ve ever seen as goalkeeper.
(maybe should he move to england
frenchnetherlandsfan

maybe me too, after seeing the mistakes i made
Benjamin

i picked frey.
yes he screwed up against ukraine, but everyone does
and i believe him when he says the stadium lights blinded him.

as long as its not landreau, im happy cuz that guy is retarded.
Mandanda is a good option because hes been coping with the
pressure at marseille very well…but hopefully all that wont
matter since coupet will be ready to go
http://lyon.theoffside.com Inara

Landreau was amazing the last two years and was the sole reason that PSG survived in the top flight next year. He was also gk in the U21 level too. He’s had a really bad year, but you have to take the circumstances into account – he’s had relegation on his shoulders for two years, his club is a total pressure cooker, the fans border on violent, the coach and the players couldn’t communicate with each other…anyone, even the most established veteran in the whole world, would find that tough.

But it’s totally unfair to call him retarded or to say that he should never be near a ball again. I just find it funny that people are so against him being the #2 keeper and yet are okay with all the other out of form players who have had totally subpar seasons.

frenchnetherlandsfan: Obviously a new coach means that things will change around, but Domenech will be around until the tournament is over.
Brandon

Hey Laurie,
check out this link. its a poll where people pick the 23 they want Domenech to include for his 2008 squad.

http://euro.facebook.eurosport.com/include/php/parts/moyenne.html

its done through facebook, but you can see the average results without having an account.

As a huge Willy Sagnol fan, its great to see that Im not alone! over 90% of people think he should be included in the 23! second only to Gallas in the poll. anyways, take a look!